


Freaks of Nature

by Nekokratik



Series: Freaks of Nature [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Hybrids, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-04-27 14:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5053201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekokratik/pseuds/Nekokratik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world of were-creatures, there is a boy who is hated by the world, there is a boy who hates the world, and a third boy who loves the world even though the world hates him. By a game of fate, they are destined to meet for the perfect happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in AO3. The story is not beta'ed so there might be some mistakes. If you see any, please let me know, I'll correct them. 
> 
> The idea just came to me one day and BAM. Here you are. Just a heads up, the corresponding animals that each character is linked to has nothing to do with the manga/author, I decided them based ... a lot of things really, and just thought they were fitting. You are wecolme to mssg me about why each character is as they are (i might go on a big rant). So here is the first chapter, hope you guys like it!
> 
> EDIT: I finally thought of a better summary.

In a world where humans and animals alike have evolved, the normal standard is to being a were of some sort. Because of the great variety, different races have developed their own sense of honour, some becoming more narrow minded, going as far as to wear their lineage like gold. Some species have become more common than others, like people with cat features and dog features, which can be found on any land. Although some were an exception, like the great country of Ruskaina.

Ruskaina, a country mostly avoided by the general public, was a free country that not even the rule-upholding marines dared to set foot to. This island first started as an inhabitable place, only to be wandered by the most ferocious beasts of all, but because humans evolved into weres, Ruskaina became a country of weres who lived by the motto of “Survival of the fittest.”

Even though Ruskaina is not patrolled by the marines, it was not a lawless island like most would think. Due to the lack of protection to weaker were species, the population of Ruskaina was made up of weres that have evolved to another level in order to ensure their survival among other ferocious species. The land had developed its peacefulness among bloodthirsty weres through the strong families that wandered the land, be it the carnivorous Donquixote flamingos or Whitebeard's family of misfits. But the one truly feared family were the unlucky Golds.

The Golds were a small family composed of only three members. The father being Gold Roger, his wife Portgas Rouge, and their son, Gold Ace. Even though this family was small and not threatening, they were feared, not only because of Gold Roger's earlier violent days, but for several other reasons. The first of them being Roger's pure blood line of a black panther. Just like humans used to have their superstitions about unlucky black cats, weres started to believe in unlucky black panthers based on the stream of unfortunate events that happened in the vicinity of a black panther. Through hatred, the black panther lineage started to slowly disappear, the only one remaining being Roger himself, so the rumours surrounding the man only worsened when Roger decided to marry Portgas Rouge, a pedigree lioness.

In a world with a big variety of were species, each specie had upheld the tradition of keeping their lineage pure, especially lions, the “Kings of Beasts.” So when Rouge, daughter to the noble lions, married the unlucky black panther, outrage was an underrated word to describe the situation at the time. Now years later, after Roger and Rouge settled down and their name made not only in Ruskaina, but the whole world, Gold Ace was born, the third reason as to why the Golds were feared and hated, the taboo of hybrids.

In the present time, Ace was now seven years old. Appearance wise, the boy inherited his father's black panther features, having raven hair, pointier black feline ears, and a long black tail. From his mother, Ace got her keener senses and her freckles. Ace was a calm happy boy, until he started attending school, where both Roger and Rouge noticed some changes in his behaviour, especially his anger.

During a nice summer day, Ace happened to be confronted by a group of kids in a clearing surrounded by trees, far enough from the neighbourhoods or the city to not attract any adult's attention. The kids took this chance and started ganging up on the raven.

“It's the Unlucky Black Panther! Did you know? My mom said that if he is around, you could get a disease and die!” One of the kids yelled

“That's nothing! He is already a freak! Did you know his mom is a lioness? My dad says he is a freak because he is a hybrid!” Another kid responded.

“His parents are so stupid! Don't they know that hybrids carry sicknesses that can kill you? My brother said so! Hybrids are the end of a whole family!” Another kid yelled the loudest.

Not a second passed as all those comments and insults were said before Ace jumped on the whole group with his claws and sharp teeth, eyes constricted with anger, loosing all train of thoughts and just going on instinct.

To maul and kill.

 

* * *

 

“I'm home!” Ace said when he open the door to his house and immediately tried to run for his room, but right as he was about to pass the kitchen, an arm shot out to catch the back of his shirt.

“And where do you think you are going?” Rouge said. The lioness had long blond curly hair that had a tint of pink in them, and her pupils seem to constrict as she took in Ace's state of dress.

The boy had dirt all over, a few scratches here and there, and a bloody nose. This set off Rouge's motherly instincts and with a stern face, she set her son down on a kitchen chair, in front of where her husband was sitting.

“Oh~ Looks like someone got into a fight,” Roger chuckled as he looked over his son's injuries, looking for anything fatal. “Did you at least win?”

“Of course! Who do you think I am?” Ace said stubbornly, trying not to wince as his mom rubbed with force to clean some open wounds.

Satisfied with the outcome, Roger laughed and held out his hand to the boy, “Hell yeah! Up top!”

Ace grinned and high-fived his dad, but sat back down in place when his mom gave him a look. Rouge turned her look to Roger, and the man quickly stood up to take over cooking dinner.

“So, sweetie, mind telling me how this all went down?” Rouge said as she calmed down her nerves now that she knew there wasn't anything that was too bad.

“Well, there was a group of kids who wanted trouble, said stuff they weren't supposed to, so I beat them up.” Ace said with a small shrug of shoulders.

“And what did they say?” Rouge asked as she cleaned Ace's face and his bloody nose.

“Can't remember,” Ace shrugged again, but Rouge could tell he was lying by the way his tail flicked irritably. Deciding not to push it, Rouge just let it go, she had an idea of what was said anyways. With one last swipe, she took Ace's face in her hands to make him look at her.

“Well, that was very brave of you,” she said and kissed his forehead. “Now go wash up before dinner!”

Ace jumped down from his seat and ran towards his room. After Ace left, Rouge took his seat and slumped down on the table with a pout.

“It's ok, you know he is strong, he is our son after all,” Roger said as he slumped down in in front of her.

“I know, but I still can't help but worry,” Rouge's pout became less angry and more annoyed. Even though her instincts screamed at her to go out there and hunt those that hurt her little baby, she knew that she couldn't just go out and start hunting little kids, unless she wanted to start a war. Besides, she knew that Ace had done much worse than what had been done to him.

“How much do you want to bet we will have a mob at our door tomorrow morning?” Roger grinned wide and Rouge smiled.

“Oh, you mean you won't be expecting one tonight?” Rouge said, annoyance long gone. They knew that their little Ace was strong, they were sure to have a horde of parents complaining about the wounds Ace beat into the other kids.

“Well, if there are still those stupid enough to come onto the territory of a nightcrawler at night,” Roger laughed loudly, with Rouge chuckling along.

“Honey, I think I smell something about to burn,” Rouge asked, causing her husband to stop laughing and jumped towards the stove.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story of the noble brother. Story of the Goa Kingdom. Story of a boy's freedom.

In the world of weres, on another country, this one more peaceful and less bloodthirsty than Ruskaina, the Goa Kingdom was home to the noble werelions. The lions were the upperclass of this country; they co-existed with other weres, but all were considered to be below the royal lineage. Part of this lineage, was a little boy named of Sabo.

Sabo was an eight year old boy who had pure lion blood, which meant golden blond hair, round ears, and tail. But just like any other specie, being a noble lion also came with its stereotypes, prejudices and rumours.

Lions were feared by most citizens because of the power they held as the higher end of society, but if they were not feared, the only people who dared approach werelions were those seeking for money and fame.

It's been a week since school let out, so Sabo decided to sneak off from his house to go play by the river. He made sure that he had his blue top hat with him, and that his goggles were on the rim before he ran off.

Running through the shortcuts he knew in the city he was able to reach the edge of the city shortly and kept making his way out towards the riverside. Because summer was hot, a lot of the children liked to gather at the river to play with the water and to cool down. All children except the noble ones, who thought it beneath them to play in a dirty river and thought it to be stupid when most of them had a pool in their backyards.

When Sabo was within view of the river, he could see that a group of kids had already gathered. Making sure that his hat covered his ears, he picked up speed and went to join them in their game.

Throughout the afternoon, Sabo was having fun, he had won all the matches so far and he enjoyed the cooling feeling of the water. Being too focused in the games, he did not realize that the crowd at the riverside had separated in two, one of the group crowding around him, while the other one was composed of weres who seemed like they wanted to leave, but also wanted to cool down.

Sabo was startled out of his trance when one of his teammates, a wereswan, kissed him.

“What are you doing?” Sabo screamed as he backed away.

“Kissing you, don't you know what that is? My mommy says that two people who love each other do that!” the girl smiled. She had snow white hair and feathers along her arms, from her pinky finger to her sides.

“But I don't even know you!” Sabo was outraged and confused.

“You don't have to know me to love me, everybody loves me, I am the prettiest of them all after all,” she flipped her hair.

Noticing there were less people by the riverside, the situation finally settled down on him. They had known he was a werelion, the remaining kids were those who wanted his money and fame, except the few further down the river, who most probably feared him. With all the joy and laughter gone, Sabo frowned.

' _Why is it always like this?_ ' He thought as he turned around and ran away.

 

* * *

 

 

Walking back to his house, Sabo didn't even bother sneaking back in, he just entered through the front door.

Not five steps in, there is a loud screech.

“What have you done to yourself?” his mother screams. “Where have you been? Somebody get him out of my sight! I cannot stand looking at such a dirty being, I'll be dirty myself!”

“Yes, ma'am,” a few maids came running and ushered Sabo to his room.

“Don't drag him! He'll dirty the carpets!”

“Yes, ma'am!” one of the maids picked up Sabo and the group rushed off.

 

* * *

 

 

After Sabo was cleaned, he was led to his parents who demanded his presence once he was presentable.

In the living room, his mother was telling his father about how dirty he was and how much it was unbefitting of them. Once Sabo stepped into the room, the adults turned their attention to him, their faces turning stern with disgust.

“How do you explain yourself, young man?” his father asked.

“I only went to the riverside to play with the other kids,” Sabo responded, not deigning to look at his parents; the rug was more interesting.

“Oh my! That place is for people from trash! It's full of diseases! Who knows what you could have caught?” his mother exclaimed. “Did you think about your brother? What if it's contagious?”

Sabo didn't bother to respond.

“Seems like we haven't discipline you enough; do you not have anything to say to soothe your mother's worries?” his father demanded, but he received no answer. “You'll be going to your room without dinner, and tomorrow we will have a tutor to drill in manners into you, boy.”

Not waiting to be dismissed, he just walked out and headed for his room. He was tired of this life, a life filled with lies and people with selfish ambitions.

By the time he reached his room, his mind had been set; he would run away from home tomorrow morning, before everyone woke up, before he was forever chained to this fake fairytale.

 

* * *

 

Double checking one last time to make sure that he had his most important belongings, Sabo shouldered his bag and made his way towards the window. He placed his letter on his desk and made sure to put the paperweight on it. Even though he hated his life, these adults were still people that had taken care of him for eight years and he made sure to say that he would not come back to the life of a noble ever again.

 

* * *

 

It was already late afternoon when Sabo was making his way towards the coast where the docks were full of boats going back and forth between islands; for sure one of them would take a boy looking for adventure. He knew he couldn't go by the sea train because he would have needed an adult with him, and because they required identification. They would have contacted his parents right away.

Just a few more blocks away from the coast, Sabo bumped into some police officers who recognized him. They had received reports about a missing kid from a noble family in the morning and they had been looking for him since. Sabo decided to make a run for it in the opposite direction.

The police officers were weredogs, but even weredogs did not have the agility of a lion cub. Sabo turned in alleys, jumped over fences and even climbed some houses to get away from his pursuers, but they did not give up.

He had been running for a good twenty minutes when just as he was looking back, he did not notice a person who came out of the adjacent alley. With the force Sabo had running at, he toppled them both to the ground.

“I'm so sorry!” Sabo apologized and tried to get away once again, only to be embraced and covered with a cloak. “Hey, wha-”

“Shh,” the person said and stood up to keep walking.

“Good afternoon, ma'am,” the police officers said with a bow. “Have you seen a small werelion boy run by? He ran away from home and his parents are worried about him.”

“Yeah, he almost knocked me over, that little ruffian, what if something happened to my baby?” the woman exclaimed. “Who is going to pay for it then? Do you know how long I have been trying to have a baby? And after all-”

“Thank you, ma'am, we will be sure to catch him.” the police officers rushed off, not really wanting to hear the rant of a pregnant noble.

The woman kept walking, trying to find a secure spot to let the blond out. She jumped up onto an emergency exit staircase, feeling accomplished when the apartment inside was empty. She lifted the cloak and Sabo tumbled out.

“Thanks for rescuing me, ma'am,” Sabo said with a smile, but once he realized who he was talking to, his face turned sour and tried to leave once again.

“Hey, no, no, no. It's ok,” the woman said as she reached out and held onto the blond's arm. “We have time, the police is probably still wandering around. Now, why don't you tell me why you are running away from your house?”

“Why should I tell a stranger anything? Even more, why should I tell people like you anything?” the distrust in Sabo's face was evident.

“People like me?” the woman pointed to herself. “But we are the same, I can tell you are a pure werelion, too.”

“Yeah, well, it's people like us that I hate the most!” Sabo said getting angry at being reminded of his lineage.

“Hm, well, my name is Rouge, Portgas Rouge,” Rouge said with a smile as she held out her hand to the little boy. “I am a werelioness and I'm proud of it, but I'm no noble.”

“What do you mean not a noble? How can you not be a noble? You are a pure blood!” Sabo said, confusion showing on his face.

“Well, it's a long story, but tell me yours and I'll you mine, after all I don't even know your name yet.”

“Oh, right, nice to meet you, my name is Sabo,” Sabo said while taking off his top hat and bowing a little bit; he did have years of manners drilled into him, especially about being courteous to a lady. Rouge chuckled at the politeness she hasn't seen in a long time. “I ran away from home because I don't want to live there anymore, I want to travel, I want to be free!”

“Is that so? But you can be free with your parents, you just have to communicate with-”

“NO! I'm never going back! I'm never going back to being a noble!” Sabo exclaimed, nearly in tears by the thought of having to go back. “I'm ashamed to have been born a werelion!”

Rouge was shocked by this statement. Everybody either hated or loved werelions, but never in her life had she thought she would see the day that she would hear a werelion themselves say they were ashamed of themselves. She knew where this boy was coming from and what he must have suffered, she did go through similar experiences after all, but things have reached their breaking point. Understanding the situation, her motherly instincts kicked in, and her mind was set.

“Then,” Rouge said as she leaned forward, to be on a better eye level with the boy. “Would you like to come with me?” She smiled. “My husband is a black panther, and I have a son who is mostly a black panther, too. We live on another island that doesn't have all these suffocating rules. You are not a noble there and you will have all the freedom you dream of.”

There was a moment of silence before Sabo was able to respond. He never would have imagined that she was married to another specie, had a hybrid son even! But she was offering to take him away.

“Really?” suspicion and hope laced through Sabo's words. This woman who was supposed to be a werelioness, but wasn't a noble seemed happy; this woman who was supposed to be hated by society, was smiling and lived in a freer land. “I can really come with you?”

“Yeah, if you are not scared of new challenges and having a black panther as a brother.” Rouge smiled. Without a second thought, Sabo just nodded his head frantically.

“Yes! I'd love to! Please take me with you!” Sabo jumped into Rouge's arms, and Rouge just laughed at the boy's enthusiasm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it me or does reading this sounds awkward? I really do need to work on my sentencing skills.
> 
> I do have a plan planned out for this work, and I will try and update every week; setting this goal motivates me to write, so hopefully my writing will improve.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hatred is said to be root of all evil, but where does hatred come from? At the tender age of five, a rabbit boy is taught that it comes from fear.

Within the world of weres, most countries had various types of weres living in them, having different were species cohabiting with each other. Although rare, there were countries that housed only one type of specie. Fusha was one of them.

Fusha was an island isolated from other countries, but they were peaceful and self-sufficient. The island was well-known for being the home of rabbits, where only wererabbits lived. Most places that were home to a single specie were mostly because they was too territorial to coexist with others different from them, resulting in long historic wars between species where the victorious ones killed to claim the land. On the other hand, Fusha started as a deserted island from all beings.

As weres came into existence, different species developed their own form of defenses and or offences. Wererabbits did happen to develop ways to defend themselves and even attack, but not as a whole specie. As the specie evolved, they branched out due to different believes. Those that believed they should start being more aggressive, developed massive strength and great withstandability to blows; they came to be known as Toughness Rabbits. Those that believed more in defense rather than offence developed great power more so in their legs than their arms. Their arms helped with hunting and throw the occasional punches, but their legs were developed the most due to their use for retreating, giving them more speed and jumping power; they came to be known as Lapahn Rabbits. The rest of the specie believed they were fine as they were, thus remaining simple normal rabbits.

Toughness Rabbits separated from the others and went to search for more resourceful lands to live in, eventually their fur turned completely black. On the other hand, Lapahn Rabbits went to search for more isolated places, places where they wouldn't be hunted; they came upon a snowy country, the winter country of Drum, and their fur turned completely white. Normal rabbits were left to their own devices and because of their vulnerability, they were quickly endangered. Before they could be completely extinct, the world government gave them their protection. Normal wererabbits were placed in the isolated island of Fusha, where they were safe from other weres. The world government continued their protection program, having the marine patrol the nearby seas to prevent any other were from landing on Fusha, thus making it one of the most peaceful countries in the world. After wererabbits settled down, they were able to establish their daily lives and expand as a society.

In the kindergarten of the island, there was a little boy called Luffy, who was just starting his day.

Luffy was a five years old wererabbit with raven hair and white rabbit ears and tail. He lived with Makino, who was a dark green wererabbit, dark green hair and caramel brown rabbit features. She was also the person who ran the kindergarten.

“Luffy, did you brush your teeth?” Makino asked as she saw Luffy stepping into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Luffy said, going to sit at the dining table. “Good morning, Makino.”

“Good morning, Luffy,” Makino said as she cooked. "Are you excited for today?"

“I can't wait for today!” Luffy exclaimed with a big smile. “It's going to be so much fun!”

“I bet, it is your first field trip after all,” Makino chuckled. She then brought two dishes to the table. “But before all that, we need to start the day with some breakfast.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Ok, everyone, listen up!” Makino said as she faced a group of young wererabbit children. “We are going to have our lunch break now! Remember to chew before you swallow, and when everyone is done, we will be heading back to the school. Clap your hands twice if you heard what I said.”

Albeit a bit out of sync, two resounding claps could be heard from the group. The little kids separated into little groups and started to eat their meal.

It was some time past midday, the earlier morning had been spend exploring the forest of the island. Because the group consisted of an average of five years olds, they didn't go far, but as they grew older, their classes would have yearly field trips to explore the rest of the forest.

“Hey, did you know?” one of the wererabbits in Luffy's circle, Johnny, said. “My brother said there is this cliff so high! You can see the whole ocean!”

“No way!” various kids murmured.

“Yes way! And we even passed it on our trail!” Johnny insisted. “I swear!”

“Then let's go look for it!” Luffy said, making the other children look at him in unison.

“Y-yeah!” Johnny clapped his hands. “Let's finish up and go! We are only going to see and be right back.”

The kids scrambled to finish their lunch and were soon on their feet. Luckily for them, their small circle of five was the one closest to the forest tree line, so they were able to slip away without being noticed.

“So where did you say it was?” one of the wererabbits asked.

“It's just by the big boulder, if you go through the bushes you'll see it right away!” Johnny said at the head of the group.

“Woohoo! Race you guys!” Luffy exclaimed as he ran ahead.

“Wait!”

“No fair!” his group of friends said as they ran after him.

Luffy ran ahead with unnatural speed and soon outran everyone and reached the cliff first. For a moment he just stood at the edge and stared at the sight in front of him; the vast ocean spreading far and wide seeming as if there were no boundaries.

“Luffy, you cheated,” Johnny whined as he stumbled out of the bushes.

“Third! Not last!” another kid stumbled out, followed by another who was panting too hard to say anything.

“No fair!” the last of their group yelled as he ran through the bushes to tackle his group of friends. Due to the small space on the cliff, the tackle started a domino effect. With one kid pushing another down, Johnny ended up crashing against Luffy, who was at the edge of the cliff, and pushed him off of it.

Silence stretched around the group as they watched Luffy fall off. They scrambled to look over the edge when a scream was heard and what they saw made them scramble back towards their school. The edge had been a ten meter drop, and with a rocky ground at the bottom, the kids were beyond scared, so they turned to the only adult within their reach, their teacher Makino.

 

* * *

 

 

“Makino-sensei!” the group of children yelled as they burst out of the treeline and across the clearing, managing to not bump into the other groups scattered around.

Makino, who was having her own lunch, was startled by the yell and turned towards the source. The children came to a stop in front of her and started to talk all at once.

“Everyone, please calm down,” Makino tried placating them. “I can't understand what you are saying if you all speak at once."

But the children did not calm down, instead they started talking even faster and louder. Makino was not sure what was going on, but she could see that they were scared. She tried making sense of their actions when she realized that this was the group Luffy was hanging out with. A chill suddenly ran down her spine and her stomach dropped.

“Where is Luffy?” She asked, prompting the kids to start an even more frantic explanation of the events.

Just as Makino was about to tell the kids to lead her to the site of the event, a more pronounced voice echoed through the clearing.

“Hey, everyone!” Luffy yelled as he stumbled out of the treeline, looking a little more roughed up than what he looked in the morning.

Just as Makino was about to call out to him, the children that were in front of her fell silent and ran to hide behind her.

“Hey, I'm fine! See,” Luffy said with a big smile as he ran up to his group and Makino. The children just scrambled to hide further behind Makino as Luffy got closer, and the teacher could feel they started trembling.

“Stay away!” one of the kids finally snapped.

Luffy stopped a few feet away from Makino, shocked still by the yell.

“That was nothing. I'm fine, see?” Luffy said as he flapped his arms while bouncing in place.

“You shouldn't be!” Johnny yelled, he looked like was close to be tearing up. “You just fell from a ten meter high cliff! You shouldn't be fine! You should be dead!”

“B-but, I'm fine,” Luffy said with less enthusiasm. He tried walking closer to Makino, but was stopped once again when another kid yelled out.

“Stay away, yo-you monster!”

The yell prompted the other kids to yell out, too.

“Go away!”

“Monster!”

“Freak!”

Makino finally reached the end of her patience and something within her snapped.

“Everyone!” Her tone was not loud, but it had an authoritative edge to it that overcame all the other voices, making the children quiet down. “We do not say such obscenities, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” She scolds them. “I want you to apologize right now.”

The children just stood where they were and trembled as tears rolled down their cheeks, all of them tight-lipped by their fears.

After a few more minutes of silence, Makino knew she wasn't going to get her apology. So she just ushered her kids back to school. She waited for the children to be walking in front of her before following them, but she noticed that Luffy was still standing where he was. She went up to him and crouched down to be at eye level.

“Are you ok?” Makino asked.

Luffy didn't say anything, but just nodded his head.

“I'm sure they didn't mean what they said. They were really scared,” Makino said. “Let's go back, I'm sure when they calm down, they will apologize.”

“Ok,” Luffy said as he brightened a little. Makino stretched her hand out to him and they walked back to the school holding hands.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After seeing off the last child in the kindergarten, Makino returned to the classroom only to see Luffy playing by himself. Throughout the day, none of the kids apologized and they avoided him instead. He tried playing with other kids, but they had heard the commotion at lunch and they avoided Luffy, too.

“Luffy,” Makino called out from the doorway, making Luffy look up to her. “Would you want to help me cook dinner?” She smiled.

“Yeah,” Luffy brightened up a little and ran up to her.

 

* * *

 

 

After dinner, they cleaned up and Makino send Luffy to bed. Then she went back into the kitchen, where she had a den den mushi.

She dialed and waited for it to connect.

“Bwahahahaha, if you are looking for trouble, you have dialed the wrong number,” a voice boomed from the snail.

“Hello, Garp-san,” Makino said in a less boisterous voice.

“Oh, Makino! How are you doing?” Garp said.

“I'm good, I'm actually calling about Luffy.”

“Has that brat given you trouble already? Do I need to come discipline him?”

“No, Luffy has been great, it's just that something has happened today.”

Garp stayed silent as if he could see the tension on Makino's shoulders and how her knuckles were white from clenching too hard.

“We had a field trip day today, so the kids got to explore the forest a little bit. Luffy and his friends managed to sneak off to the cliff. And according to the kids, Luffy fell off of it." There was a crack in Makino's voice. "He is fine, though. He, he is sleeping right now.”

“Bwahahaha! He has my genes after all!”

“Yes, yes he does.” Makino chuckled, tension easing a little bit by Garp's nonchalant laugh. “There is not even one scratch on him." There was a slight pause before the teacher's voice became serious again. "Emotionally on the other hand, I don't think he is doing as good.”

“Did the kids say something?” Garp said with a grave voice.

“Yes,” Makino said, but her throat closed up before she could say more. She tried clearing her throat, but it just made tears fill her eyes. “They, uh, they watched him fall, and then they said that he should have been dead, t-that nobody could have survived that. And that, that he was, he was a f-freak for doing so.”

Garp stayed silent as Makino softly cried.

“I'm sorry, Garp-san,” Makino apologized. “I'm sorry I let this happen.”

“Makino,” Garp said. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I owe you my gratitude for having taken in Luffy. What happened is not your fault.”

They stayed silent for a minute; Makino's soft cries echoing through the room.

“Makino,” Garp said with a sense of conviction. “Thank you for all that you have done for Luffy.”

Makino kept her silence and nodded, even though she knew that Garp could not see it. She could already imagine what Garp had decided.

“I will come pick up Luffy,” Garp started. “Before I get there, I have another great favor to ask of you.”

“Yes, of course,” Makino nodded again.

“Could you tell Luffy about his parents?” Garp asked. Makino had expected a lot of things, but this was not one of them. “I know this is a weird request, but I think it's best if he hears it from you; he wouldn't listen to me otherwise. Any other questions he has I'll answer them when I reach Fusha.”

“Yes, you can leave it to me.” Makino said.

“Thank you, Makino.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy bids his farewells to Fusha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter this week. Sorry about that. So I've come to the realization that I need to learn how to write/deal with one-shots, as in stay with an idea, and not trying to root it in order to write it. I have so many different ideas, but they never come to life because I always try to think of how this came to be, thus writing from the beginnings of time, which turns me off completely from the idea. Basically, one-shots. So yeah, my next work ... probably a one-shot. Or well, series of one-shots.

_Once upon a time, the prince of a foreign country was in love with the princess of the neighboring country. Because the two were from different families, their love was forbidden. The prince was a descendant of darkness while the princess came from the brightness._

_They knew they were star-crossed lovers destined to a troubled future, but they did not let that stop their love. They decided to elope and live with freedom; they ran away to the far coast and build a small cottage._

_Months later, the lovers would be expecting a baby, boy or girl, they didn't care, they just knew that they would be loved. Before the baby could have been born, the couple was found._

_They could no longer stay in the small cottage so they decided to move further along, but with their pursuers so close they had ran out of time. With last vows of love and a kiss of promise, the lovers parted ways. The prince got closer to their pursuers to lure them the other way in order to give the princess and their child a chance to life._

_Little did they expect, fate was not on their side._

_There were two different parties pursuing the lovers. Both the prince and the princess were captured and brought back to their kingdoms. The prince was put under strict watch and his schedule was pack tight with lessons and meetings, allowing only the bare minimum time for sleep. The princess was put on house watch, never leaving the castle and always being in the company of at least two royal guards._

_After the discovery of the princess being pregnant, she was allowed to give birth to the baby on the condition that it would be given away and never to be seen again._

_So when the baby was born, they were taken away into the shadows never to be seen again._

 

* * *

 

A few days later after the call, the kindergarten was closed for the weekend, so Makino and Luffy were doing laundry in the backyard. Just halfway through the process, a large man walked around the house to the backyard and cleared his throat, making Makino and Luffy jump.

“Garp-san!” Makino exclaimed. She had expected the man, but they didn't set a specific time.

Garp had black rabbit features, meaning he wasn't a simple wererabbit, but a Toughness Rabbit. His stature was larger than normal, showing his inheritance of the Toughness Rabbit's great power. Due to age, his hair had become grey, but other than hair, he still had his energy from his younger days.

“I see you are doing good, Makino,” Garp said.

“Yes, thanks to your services, we don't have to live in fear,” Makino smiled and nodded her head. She then noticed Luffy who was trying to hide behind her.

“Now where is that grandson of mine?” Garp made a show of looking around before heading for Makino. He walked around her and saw the kid plastering himself to Makino's legs. Garp grinned before he reached down and pulled the child up by the back of his shirt.

“Gyah! Grandpa!” Luffy screamed.

“Makino is being too nice to you, brat! How dare you not greet your grandpa?” Garp said. “Have you forgotten my Fist of Love?”

“It's because of your Fist of Love that I don't want to see you!” Luffy shouted while struggling to get away.

“I'll let you two catch up,” Makino giggled and headed back into the house.

“Makino!” Luffy screamed after her.

After a few minutes of Garp showing his love to Luffy, the boy was now lying on the ground panting while the old man sat down on the grass besides him.

“So, Luffy, do you know who your parents are?” Garp asked.

“Hm,” Luffy frowned. “Makino said I am the boy from the prince and the princess.”

Garp was confused for a few seconds before he figured out that Makino had told Luffy who his parents were through a fairy tale.

“Yes, you are. And that is why you are different from the other kids.” Garp said. Luffy sat up to face his grandpa.

“So I didn't get hurt from the fall because I'm very loved?” Luffy looked up with curious eyes, and Garp smiled at that.

“Yes, kiddo,” Garp ruffled his grandson's hair. “Do you want to grab a snack before we leave?”

“Leave? Where are we going? How long am I going to be gone?” Luffy asked.

“What? You didn't know? In order to become a strong marine, I'm taking you somewhere else to make you stronger!” Garp laughed.

 

* * *

 

Because Fusha was an isolated island protected by the government, only the appointed marine patrolling the nearby seas could dock. The sea train did not stop by the island, so Garp's marine ship was the only form of transportation in and out. The first few days of the trip, Luffy was not used to boat rides so he got motion sickness.

Now a few days later, Luffy was sleeping soundly when Garp burst in.

“Luffy, wake up!”

Luckily for the boy, he had the habits of a heavy sleeper, so he didn't wake up with a shock. The seven year old boy merely sat up and yawned.

“Come on, Luffy, we have arrived,” Garp said. Before the left the privacy of the room, he reached behind his grandson and pulled a red hood over his rabbit ears. “Now remember, unless you want to be eaten by other monsters, never pull off this hoodie.”

“Ok, Grandpa.” Luffy nodded while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

After making sure that the hood would not slide off, Garp led the way into the city.

The further in they walked into the city, the more Luffy became enthusiastic about his surroundings. The first thing he noticed were the people. Where Fusha only had wererabbits, there were all kinds of weres walking around and going about their own businesses.

Luffy could see that some people had long furry tails, while others had no tails at all. Some even had feathers on their arms! The most interesting people had no tails or ears, but they seemed to have scales and even horns and pointy spikes. Never having seen that, Luffy had an overwhelming sense of wanting to touch these people.

Before the little boy could run off, Garp stopped his grandson by grabbing his wrist without even looking. They kept walking through the city towards the woods as Luffy just looked on with amazement in his eyes and waving his free arm around.

In the forest, there were no more people, but the new sights and smells were enough to pull Luffy in various directions. Fortunately for the boy, Garp considered it isolated enough to let his grandson loose.

After a few minutes of walking, Garp finally broke through the treeline to a clearing with a house in the middle. He walked up to the door, but before he could knock, he felt an oncoming attack from behind.

Garp ducked down just as a black blur jumped him from the back. The attacker crashed through the door and Garp followed through to land a punch. The punch ended breaking through the floor with the target no where in sight. Just as Garp was turning around to go back out, the creature leaped at him again. This time Garp took hold of his attacker and flipped him over his shoulder and slammed him on the floor.

“Hahahaha! Your old man sense haven't gotten any duller, have they?” his attacker laughed, not trying to get away or get up.

“You are a hundred years too early if you think you can beat me, Roger,” Garp stood up and dusted himself off.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of my first official fanfiction, and for it to have 19 kudos! It totally made my day. Unfortunately, updates are going to be once in two weeks now, 'cause as always, Christmas is the month of Finals. Also! I had a couple of writer's block, and my brain came up with a new fanfiction idea (more than one actually) and so I'll also be putting up a new series of oneshots, that lead up to a Christmas special that I wanted to do. Anyways, enjoy :)

When Garp led him into the forest, Luffy was a little disappointed he wouldn't be able to see more interesting people anymore, but his downcast face immediately lit up when Garp let go of his wrist. He took that as permission to go off and run around his new surroundings.

This forest was different than the one in Fusha, it had an ominous ambiance, but Luffy did not feel threatened. He felt lighter than ever and as if adrenaline had been shot into him, he felt an overwhelming sense of joy and freedom burst in his tiny body. New smells enticed him to one direction while new sounds called him to another.

He ran from tree to tree, bush to bush, immersing himself in mother nature. In his excitement, he failed to notice the black shadow that was stalking him from the tree branches.

Just as Luffy was contemplating climbing an interesting looking tree, he heard a loud crash. He turned to head towards where the sound came from, but before he could take one step, he was tackled from the side.

It didn't hurt Lufffy to fall to the ground with extra weight on top of him because of his Toughness Rabbit genes, and he was able to dodge the first punch on instinct alone. Rolling to his side, Luffy managed to escape from under his attacker. Before he could run far, his ankle was grabbed and he fell to the ground. He turned around and his arms came up just in time to block incoming punches to his face.

Getting frustrated, Luffy managed to push his attacker off of him and retaliated with punches of his own. With a particularly strong shove, Luffy now stood in front of his offender, both of them panting. Studying his opponent, the other boy was a few years older, had black feline ears and a black tail flicking irritably. Before Luffy said anything, he noticed the shock in the other's face, his mouth dropping and his eyes widening at something atop of his head. It was then that Luffy realized his hood had fallen, revealing his white rabbit ears.

Luffy hastily tried to pull his hood over his ears again, missing how his attacker's face changed from shock to dilated eyes and a chesire-like grin. The feline boy pounced on Luffy, but before he could sink his teeth and claws into his prey, he was snatched mid air by a black shadow.

The figure landed in front of Luffy in the form a black panther. Ace struggled to get free while Luffy stared up in awe at the figure, forgetting about his exposed ears. When the panther turned around to walk away, Luffy simply followed him.

He would walk at the panther's side, run between his legs and walk at the other side. His eyes had stars sparkling in them while his tiny body shook with excitement. He is startled out of his wonder he heard Garp calling him. Not wanting to be subjected to his Fist of Love as punishment, Luffy ran towards the sound, straight ahead from the path the black panther was walking on.

“Luffy, come here, there is someone I'd like you to meet.” Garp said as he saw Luffy coming out of the forest.

“Granpa! Guess what I saw! There was this kid who wanted to fight, but then this monster came! It was so cool!” Luffy rambled with his arms flailing around.

“Luffy! Why is your hood off?” Garp cut into his grandson's ramble. Luffy stopped mid-sentence and quickly tried to pull his hood over his head, but Garp's Fist of Love was already upon his head.

Before Garp could scold his grandson any further, the black panther walked up to them with the boy still struggling to get free.

“Bwahahahaha, I see you still got your monster form, Roger,” Garp laughed. Roger opened his mouth to laugh, releasing the feline boy.

“Shut up, old man!” the boy's anger sparked from his words.

Roger morphed back into his human form and picked up his son, holding him up in front of Garp.

“This is Ace, you remember? He is so much cuter now!” Roger said while Ace continued to growl.

“Bwahahaha, well, then, meet my grandson, Luffy,” Garp picked Luffy up by the back of his hoodie. “Luffy, this is Roger and Ace, black panthers.”

Luffy only had eyes for Roger, who had magically changed from the cool black panther to a man. “That was so cool, mister!”

“Oho? You are not afraid of black monsters that hide in the dark?” Roger asked with a big smirk. Luffy just shook his head, claiming how cool it was that he could turn into a black panther.

Roger starts laughing boisterously, followed by Garp.

“You are an amusing kid, I like you,” Roger said. “Why don't we continue this conversation inside?”

 

* * *

 

“Where is Rouge?” Garp asked.

They all sat at the table, Ace and Luffy drinking juice while Roger and Garp opted for tea.

“She went back to Goa to settle some matters.” Roger said.

“Ace, I heard you can do full shift now.” Garp grinned.

“Is that true? Show me!” Luffy jumped up from his seat and kept bouncing on the spot.

“Ace, why don't you show Luffy some of your cool moves?” Roger ruffled his son's hair.

“Fine,” Ace grumbled while shoving his father's arm away. It flustered him that his dad still treated him like a baby even in the presence of guests.

He left the kitchen and Luffy followed.

“So, how is a rare white rabbit the grandson of the famous Iron Fist Toughness Rabbit Vice-Admiral? Last I heard, Toughness Rabbits were the most protective about their lineage.” Roger said after he was sure the boys were out of earshot.

“Blunt as always,” Garp's face turned stern and started to tell the story to Luffy's lineage.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is still reading this, I'm so sorry for the late update, but I wanted to at least start on Chapter 7 before putting this up, but I got a Major writer's block, so here I am.

"Ace, your dad is so cool! I wish I could transform, too. I would become a dinosaur!" Luffy laughed as he followed Ace to the living room. 

"Don't be an idiot, you would only be able to shapeshift into a weak rabbit," Ace scoffed. "Don't you know about the transformations? Your parents should have told you about this."

"Well, I don't have parents." Luffy said while picking his nose. "Hey, can you change shapes?"

Ace was taken aback by the first comment, but his temper overtook him at the second comment. "Of course I can! Even though my dad is a black panther and my mom is a lioness, I have managed to control my shift." Ace said with a proud smirk. 

"Ooh! That is so cool! Do you think I'll be able to change, too?" Luffy stared at Ace with sparkling eyes.

"For a weakling like you, it's impossible. They say that only purebloods can shift, but that's a lie. You just have to be strong enough. I'm more attuned to my black panther blood, so I shapeshift into one."

"So Ace is magic," Luffy smiled proudly.

"Wha-"

"Can you show me?"

Ace sighed and crossed his arms. "You better not cry or pee in your pants."

Luffy nodded his head vigorously. 

 

* * *

 

At the courtyard, Ace stood on the grass while Luffy was told to remain on the porch.

Ace took a deep breath in.

He had shifted before, but never had he done it for an audience that weren't his parents. Glacing at Luffy one last time, he closed his eyes and shifted. The change was disorienting, but Roger told him that he would get used to it the more he shifted. He blinked a couple times and looked up to where Luffy was standing.

The other boy had his eyes wide open and his mouth agape. Ace had seen this before, Luffy was shocked, and just like the others, shock would become fear and they would run away.

The black panther scoffed and looked away. He expected a scream of horror, but what he did not expect was for a body to slam into him. He instinctively thought he was under attack, but never had he been attacked while the other person was ... 

Laughing?

Luffy wrapped his arms around Ace as he laughed. "That was so cool, Ace!" The little boy's hands were tugging his ears and massaging his face.

Ace managed to shake himself out of his own shock and shifted back. His face was red with embarrassment, but he tried to play it off as anger. "Are you an idiot? You don't just jump at someone who shapeshifted, I could have attacked you!"

Luffy didn't seem to have heard his words as his hands kept tugging at his ears and face.

Ace was starting to get flustered. "Stop touching me! And what about you? A weak white rabbit like you can't even defend yourself. Why the hell would you come to Ruskaina?"

Luffy's hands stopped. "But I'm not a white rabbit, and I'm not weak!" Luffy noticed Ace's freckles and started rubbing them. "I can't be a white rabbit anyways, they think I'm a freak."

Ace got annoyed by the boy's hands and pushed him off.

"They think I'm a freak because I survived a 10 meter fall." Luffy started pulling on the grass since he no longer had Ace's interesting face to explore anymore.

"Well, that's stupid." Ace sat in front of the other boy and crossed his arms.

"I kept saying 'I'm fine' but nobody listened."

Ace hummed for a few seconds and then stood up. "Well, you are going to have to be tougher than that to survive in Ruskaina. Anyone can survive a 10 meter drop here." 

"Really? Ace too?" Luffy stared up at the other boy with wonder.

"Of course! I'm not a weakling like you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, if anyone wants a more detailed reason as to why Ace is able to shapeshift: He is able to shapeshift mainly because he has come to the acceptance of his Black Panther blood and complete rejection of his Noble Lion blood. A hybrid is able to shapeshift into any of its "origins" but mainly can't because they are confused on which one they are more, thus not being able to focus on one solid form to shapeshift into.
> 
> I didn't include this in Ace's explanation because I don't think that as a child Ace, or anyone really, would think of this sort of explanation.
> 
> PS - if you have stuck this far with me, I thank you SO MUCH.


	7. Chapter 7

Just as Ace and Luffy were playing at the back of the house, Garp decided it was time to leave after finishing his talk with Roger.

"Aren't you at least going to say goodbye?" Roger asked leaning on the wall.

"Well, if I did, I don’t think I would be able to handle his tears." Garp got his things together and walked out of the house. "Well then, take care of Luffy for me."

Roger stayed leaning against the wall even after the marine was gone, only breaking out of his trance when he heard the kids screaming at each other.

 

* * *

 

"Aceee!" Roger was met with the sight of Luffy screaming for Ace while jumping up and down in the backyard. "Come on!"

"No way, you idiot!" His son's voice came from above. Roger stepped out to stand besides the jumping rabbit and saw that his son was sitting on top of the roof.

Ace yelled when he noticed his father. "Nothing you say is going to make me come down."

"What? Did you get stuck on the roof again?" Roger laughed.

"No! I purposefully came on to the roof!" Ace was flustered. "Luffy kept bothering me to shapeshift and pulling at my face."

"That's because you are so cool!" Luffy pouted. "I've only ever seen wererabbits like Grandpa and Makino."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be seeing more weres since you are staying with us." Roger patted Luffy's head.

"What?" Ace yelled and jumped down from the roof to stand in front of the duo.

"Really?" Luffy started vibrating with excitement.

"Yes, your Grandpa, he, uh, already left, but hey! You get to-"

"ACE! Did you hear that, Ace? We are going to spend SO much time together!" Luffy screamed and tackled Ace to the ground.

Roger was glad there were no tears or tantrum fits. He thought back on Garp's words and realized that the old man would have been the one crying and not letting go. He laughed, startling the boys, but waved off the questioning glances as he ushered them inside the house.

 

* * *

 

"So boys," Roger said, taking a break from stuffing his mouth while the kids continued to do so. "We are going to be cleaning the storage room today."

"What? That's dumb," Ace paused his chewing and looked at his dad weirdly. The old man was never willing to do any cleaning unless Rouge was the one telling him to.

"Well, dumb or not, little Luffy here is going to need a room, so either he gets a room or you share yours with him."

"Em noh lit'le," Luffy said between a mouthful, but no one paid him any attention.

Ace frowned and gave in. "Fine."

After lunch, the trio went to the storage room.

Roger tasked his son with moving the boxes and seeing how small Luffy was, he told the little boy he'd be in charge of sorting out the boxes.

"But I'm strong like Ace! I can carry boxes, too," Luffy looked up with wide expecting eyes. When Roger hesitated for too long, Luffy turned around and lifted a box twice his size that Ace was supposed to carry next. "See? This is nothing."

"Hahahahaha! My bad, then you'll be carrying boxes, too." Before Roger even finished Luffy was already out the door looking for Ace.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that night after dinner, the trio was out in the backyard admiring the stars before they went to bed.

"Uncle Roger," Luffy turned from the stars to the old man. "Do you have any cool stories to tell? Makino always tells me stories before we go to bed."

If this was any other person, Ace would have retaliated that it was a small kids thing, but even he looked at his dad with hopeful eyes.

"Alright, which one do you boys want to hear? I've gone treasure hunting, I've fought this giant old elephant, or how about that time we went to Fishman Island?" Roger pondered on which story was the coolest to tell the kids, but said kids didn't care and by each mentioned adventure their eyes got wider and they leaned in closer.

Finally, Roger decided to start from the beginning, around the time when he met his friends and what they did.

He got so nostalgic remembering his old times that he didn't notice the boys trying hard not to fall asleep. After trying to keep his eyes open for the third time, Luffy gave up and slumped into Ace. The warmth of another body against him stopped Ace from pushing Luffy off, instead sleep pulled even stronger than before and he, too, fell into slumber.

When Roger felt his son against his side, he stopped talking and looked down. What he saw made him grin widely. ' _Where's a camera when you need one, Rouge would've loved to see this._ '

He carefully shifted the boys into his arms and took them to their own rooms.

 

* * *

 

 

Not long after Roger left, Luffy woke up with a heavy feeling in his chest. Not really understanding why, he went to Ace's room.

Inside, the little rabbit could see that the panther was sleeping deeply in his bed.

Just going along with his feelings, Luffy sneaked in to Ace's bed and cuddled up besides the other one, making the heavy feeling in his chest disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to point out that Luffy's heavy feeling is based on the fact that as a rabbit, they feel best with someone as they are very sociable animals.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited Family reunion.

In a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, Roger was fully shifted into his panther form. He was playing a more violent version of tag with the boys. Rather than tagging with a touch, it was more of a punch or kick, or in Roger's case, a swipe of his paws.

After Roger had jumped behind Luffy and swiped at him, sending the little rabbit to faceplant a few meters from his original position, both father and son werepanthers perked up. They turned their heads towards the same direction in the woods, ears facing forward and upright. Not one second later, the duo ran into the forest leaving Luffy in the clearing alone and confused.

Not really hearing anything peculiar, Luffy tried to chase after them. He could no longer see them, but their smell lingered a little bit between trees and bushes. In the middle of the chase, Luffy noticed a shining object in his peripheral.

 

* * *

 

Ace was close, he could feel it. This was the one thing that he could beat his dad at.

With one last jump from a tree, he burst through the leaves and straight into arms of his target.

"Rawr!" ' _Mom!_ '

"Oh well, what do we have here?" Rouge kissed the little panther in her arms. She had sensed her son from a few meters away and prepared herself to catch him.

Not a few seconds later, Roger came out running. He stopped himself at the last second, and instead of tackling his wife and son to the ground he circled his wife, he nudged her here and there, trying to get rid of foreign scents.

After a few minutes of nuzzling Ace morphed back into his human form.

"Welcome back, mom!" Ace smiled wide and hugs her.

"I'm home, baby."

The reunion is cut short by a slight cough to their left.

"Excuse me for disrupting?" Sabo smiled awkwardly at the little family.

"Oh, yes!" Rouge exclaimed. She put Ace down and pushed Sabo forward. "Ace, this is Sabo. Sabo, this is Ace. From now on you are going to be brothers!"

"What?" Ace was geniunly confused. Roger seemed to share the sentiment as he shifted from his panther form.

"Welcome back, honey," Roger kissed Rouge on the cheek before doing anything else.

"I'm back," Rouge smiled. "Now before you say anything, yes, Sabo here is a lion, and a full one at that, but no, he is not of my blood."

"Hahahahaha, the more the merrier. Now this boy must be something for you take such interest in him." Roger took his wife's hand and they begun walking back to their house.

While the adults took their time to catch up, the kids circled each other.

Ace glared at the werelion in front of him, his ears were flat on his head and his tail flicked from side to side. He would never doubt his mother's judgement, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Sabo, on the other hand, was quite impressed with the werepanther. From what Rouge told him, this boy was a hybrid, yet he just saw him shift! He grinned and stuck out his hand.

"Hey there, I'm Sabo. Hope we get along?"

Ace looked at the hand like it had offended him.

"Hope you are not weak."

"Want to figure that out now?" Sabo got into a fighting stance.

"That's more like it!" Ace grinned and threw the first punch.

 

* * *

 

"You could not imagine the days we lived without you!" Roger said as he walked along with Rouge. "We were so lost!"

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," the lioness giggled.

"Oh it was! Did you know Garp came by?"

"Oh? And what did he want?"

"You know, the usual. Well, that and Luffy."

"Luffy?"

"Yeah, you know, Garp's grandson."

"Oh, I didn't, but now that I do, what about him?"

"Well, he is staying with us for an indefinite amount of time. Interesting kid, you'll love him. We were just playing and … shit! Luffy!" Roger exclaimed as he remembered the wererabbit. He started running with his wife in tow.

Rouge laughed at her husband's antics. She could already guess what had happened.

 

* * *

 

"You are pretty good," Ace said between breaths.

"You are not too bad yourself," Sabo replied. They sparred for a few minutes, enough for one to gauge the strength of the other.

"I'm Ace. Lion and black panther hybrid," Ace extended his hand after catching his breath.

"I know, your mother told me on our way here," Sabo shook his hand with a smile. "By the way, how did you manage to shift? That is so cool!"

Ace was taken a back by the sudden excitement, but it wasn't unwanted.

"I'll tell you if you win against me," Ace smirked.

Sabo was confused, but he was willing to take on any challenges by this boy. He was so different than anyone he ever met, so interestingly different. "Ok."

"First one to the house wins!" Ace yelled as he shifted.

Not far behind, Sabo also shifted into his full lion cub form and they both made haste into the woods.

Sabo was able to make a mental path to the goal by tracing after Rouge's scent, allowing him to take the lead at times.

They both crashed into the clearing each with a roar of their own, claiming their arrival.

Rouge laughed at their playful wrestling while Roger took notice of his son's arrival.

"Ace!" He called out. "Did you see Luffy on your way back?" Ace merely shook his head before it dawned on him.

The wererabbit was not in sight. The white wererabbit was nowhere in the clearing of their home surrounded by a vast forest and carnivorous weres.

Ace ran back into the forest trying to get a scent of the boy.

Roger kissed his wife once more before shifting into his panther form and running into the forest after his son.

"Well, I guess we should get started on dinner," Rouge said while stifling a giggle. "Would you like to help?"

"Yes, if there's anything I could do," Sabo said after he shifted back.

 

* * *

 

 

Just after the sun had set, both father and son panthers finally reached home with the were rabbit in tow. Ace was holding onto him by the hand to make sure that he didn't run off and Roger walked behind them.

Opening the door, Ace hastened his steps and rushed into the dinning room, excited to show his mom and newly proclaimed brother their other addition to the family.

"Mom! Sabo! Look!" Ace said as he entered the room.

The lioness and lion cub were setting the table and turned to look at the raven, then to the boy by his side.

"Hi, I'm Luffy," Luffy said with a smile. The smile didn't seem to loose its brightness even if the boy himself was covered in mud and sticks and leaves were stuck in his hair.

"Oh my," Rouge tried to stifle a laugh. She crouched down and ruffled the wererabbit's hair, clearing the debris a little. "Hello, there. I'm Rouge,  and that is Sabo." She gestured to the werelion besides her that was still trying to process the situation. "We are going to have dinner soon, so how about you boys go clean up first?"

"Ok!" Luffy seemed to brighten up even more at the mention of food. He reached for Sabo and tugged him alonv with Ace to get cleaned up.

Just as the boys exited, Roger walked in.

"So, when were you going to tell me that we have a white rabbit child now?" Rouge stood up and crossed her arms.

"Surprise!" Roger made a sparkling motion with his hands. Rouge couldn't keep her serious facade anymore and started laughing while leaning on her husband.

"We have one hell of a family now." Rouge sighed contently as they hugged. "Now go watch over the boys while I finish up. I've heard that wererabbits can't stay in water for too long or they will die."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is not very ... valentine-y but please consider this as a gift from me to you guys as a Valentine's present. Valentine's is not for couples only, it's for all sorts of love! This is my show of love for all of you reading this. Thank you for your support until now. I honestly didn't think I would really be able to finish this fiction, so thank you!! I love you!!
> 
> PS - while writing this, I got so weird out by some English words. Like, "let go" in past tense is still "let go" ... it sounds weird after a lot of repetition. Also! "slink" is "slunk", what? And did you know "bank" is one of those "coast, shore, etc" bodies of water edges types of words? Apparently "banks" applies only to rivers and lakes.

Luffy woke up to hugging Ace as the other slept peacefully. He could hear Rouge going about her morning routine and figured that's what woke him. He thought back on yesterday night and that brought a smile to his face.

 

* * *

 

 

_Dinner was ready just as the boys stumbled into the kitchen dining area. Everyone took a seat and just as they started to eat, both Rouge and Sabo stopped to stare, with varying degrees of interest, at Luffy who was quite literally getting food everywhere except his mouth._

_"Luffy, you should slow down," Rouge said softly._

_"Hm, buh ehs and ol' men ah go'ng to finis eveh th'n and nothin' will be lef," Luffy said with a mouthful. Even so, Rouge was able to understand and shifted her eyes to the werepanthers, who stopped their fork in mid air._

_"Is that so?" Rouge smiled while her eyes expressed something different. "Luffy, from today on you'll be getting table manner courses along with Ace."_

_Not really understanding what he was signed up for, the wererabbit cheered while Ace seemed to be losing color on his face._

_"But-!"_

_"No 'buts'," Rouge said with a tone that left no room for arguments._

_Everyone resumed eating after a few seconds of silence. Ace sulked through every bite while Sabo was still mesmerized by the disaster that Luffy was making. Roger seemed to have found an immense interest in his food as he didn't look up even once, not even when he could feel his wife's eyes boring holes into him._

_After dinner, Roger and Ace were put on dish washing duty while the other three stayed at the table and an impromptu family meeting was started._

_"Hey," Luffy called out to Sabo as Rouge tried to clean his face. "Can you shift like Ace?"_

_"Uh, yes, I can," Sabo replied. It wasnt a common question to be asked, but he indulged the boy nonetheless. "What about you?"_

_"Mh-hm," Luffy shook his head. "But if I could, I'd want to turn into a dinosaur!"_

_"You idiot, I already told you that it doesn't work like that!" Ace yelled over his shoulder._

_Roger flicked some water at his son and muttered, "Don't call other people idiots." Ace hissed with his ears laid back, but turned back to the dishes in front of him._

_"So Luffy, where did you live before coming here?" Rouge asked as she finished wiping his hands._

_"Fusha!" Luffy smiled widely, kicking his legs a little at the memories. "I lived with Makino and all the other wererabbits."_

_"Oh, is Miss Makino your mom?"_

_"Nu-uh silly! Makino is Makino," Luffy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She said that the prince and the princess couldn't have me, so Grandpa had to take me away, but Grandpa is always busy."_

_"Is that so," Rouge frowned in concentration for a few minutes before she brightened up again. "Luffy, would you like to be part of our little family?"_

_Luffy tilted his head and stared at her blankly._

_"A family means that we love each other unconditionally and we protect each other from everything," Rouge explained in a soft endearing voice. "Would you like to be part of that?"_

_"Does that mean Ace would be my brother?" Luffy asked._

_"Of course, Sabo, too, would-"_

_"Yes! I never had brothers before! It'd be awesome to have brothers." Luffy grinned while swinging his little feet._

_"This is perfect!" Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned towards Rouge. "Then, I would like to officially announce that from today on, what was a small family of three, is now a small family of five!" Rouge smiled and brought Sabo and Luffy in for a tight hug. Roger laughed and ruffled his son's hair having noticed the smile the boy was trying, but failing to hold back._

 

* * *

 

 

Luffy snapped out of his memories when he felt Ace stir and got out of bed. After figuring out that Luffy did not do well with sleeping alone, Roger and Rouge offered to let him sleep with them, but he refused. He preferred sleeping with Ace, and if he had to go through three hours of bugging the older boy to accept, he would do it again and again. With one room free, Sabo got a room for himself. If the werelion got lonely, he would sneak into the werepanther's room and snuggle with the other two.

Luffy went to the bathroom just in time for Rouge to open the door.

"Good morning, Luffy," Rouge greeted and picked him up.

"G'morning!" Luffy smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck. Rouge helped him brush his teeth since he was too small to reach the sink. Once they finished up, they went downstairs to prepare breakfast and wait for the others to wake up.

 

* * *

 

 

After breakfast, it was decided that Rouge and Roger needed some adult time to catch up their lost time, so the trio had a day of their own.

They were currently walking through the forest to reach their destination.

"So, Ace, where are we going?" Sabo asked. They have been walking for a while now, Sabo didn't feel tired, but he was impressed that Luffy was still as hyper as he had been when they stepped out the door; the wererabbit was ahead of them running from one side of the path to the other, sniffing this and almost eating that. "Luffy, don't eat that!"

Luffy dropped the thing, but his enthusiasm wasn't perturbed, he ran towards another bush that had a shiny thing it.

"Well, we need a way to figure out who is the strongest one, right?" Ace said, walking with his hands behind his head. "So we are going towards the lake where the bananadiles are. Whoever is able to catch one wins."

"Bananadiles?" Sabo asked.

"Yeah, you'll see when we get there," Ace answered.

"Hey, Ace," Sabo called out after a few minutes of silence. Ace hummed to show he was listening. "Have you ever wondered if you could shift into a lion?"

"Hm, I thought panthers were cooler. After I successfully shifted into a panther, I just didn't see the point of trying to shift into a lion." Ace said it offhandedly, but Sabo could hear a lie somewhere.

He decided to drop it.

"But it's not like I hate lions or anything, you know," Ace startled Sabo out of his reverie. Sabo looked confused as to which question he was answering. "Mom told me, about werelions back in Goa."

Sabo caught up and nodded.

"I mean, I've only met you and mom, and I'm sure not everyone is going to be like you, but you are cool." Ace continued. Sabo laughed at the statement and also at the faint blush the other had; he chose not to mention that.

"Thanks," Sabo smiled, but tried to hide it by rubbing his nose. "You know, I think you are pretty cool, too." He continued knowing that Ace wouldn't give him a verbal response. "Well, I think you are really lucky to have Rouge and Roger as parents. It's also really cool that you can shift as a hybrid! I think you are the first one ever in all of history."

"W-well," Ace looked away to the side. "They are yours now, too, y-you know." Sabo looked confused once again. "Mo-, um, R-Rouge and R-Roger, they are your parents now, too."

"You are right! I guess I'm lucky, too." Sabo laughed.

Once they reached the lake, Sabo could see what the bananadiles were. There were a handful of what looked like crocodiles lounging around the lake, what made them "Bananadiles" was what looked like a banana on top of their heads.

Ace started their competition by explaining some rules, like not going beyond to the other half of the lake.

 

* * *

 

 

At the same time, in a clearing in the middle of the forest, Rouge and Roger were laying down on the grass besides their picnic basket.

"Do you think Ace is doing ok with the changes?" Rouge asked. They were sunbathing after the meal.

"Of course! You should have seen him when he first met Luffy. It's like they were real brothers from the beginning."

"I'm just worried that he would feel like we aren't going to be loving him as much," Rouge sighed.

"You are right, but if that time comes, you know we'll just smother him with hugs and kisses until he gets annoyed," Roger laughed at his mental image and Rouge giggled along.

"Him and Sabo are going to be great big brothers."

 

* * *

 

 

"Shit! LUFFY!" Ace and Sabo screamed. Just as Ace had managed to catch a bananadile and restrain it on the banks of the lake, Sabo managed to knock out another one. Right when he tried to drag it up onto land, Luffy screamed, gaining their undivided attention.

Sabo let go of his prey and jumped in with Ace to try and save their little brother.

The two boys shifted and jumped into action. The lion cub distracted the crocodile by landing on its head and scratched him while the panther cub took hold of the back of the wererabbit's shirt and pulled him out of sight. With his two brothers save, Sabo jumped into hiding, too.

When the bananadile realized there were no more preys around, it turned back and slunk back into the lake. Sabo and Ace, who was standing over Luffy to keep him still and quiet, watched quietly until the bananadile was out of sight before sighing in relief and coming out into the open.

"What the hell, Luffy!" Ace screamed as soon as he shifted back and knocked the wererabbit's head. "Didn't we tell you to stay at the treeline?"

"Yes, but-"

"Is this the treeline?"

"No, but-"

"Then what the _hell_ are you doing here?!" Ace's scream echoed through the forest around them. The loudness of the scream made Luffy flinch and he clenched around his ears that had dropped in response to it.

Sabo stood to the side, having intended to reprimand Luffy, too, but Ace had beat him to it. He was worried, too, children needed to be scold when they have done wrong, but he could see that Ace's sentiments were guided by his anger. Anger that was obviously scaring their little brother.

Sabo stepped in between the ravens and he put a hand on Ace's heaving chest, making the raven look up from the small rabbit to the blond's eyes. A few seconds of silent eye contact had the werepanther stepping back and take a deep breaths.

"Hey Luffy," Sabo bend down with his hands on his knees to be at eye level with the wererabbit. Luffy looked up from the ground and Sabo could see him biting his upper lip in order to hold back unshed tears. "Hey, are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

Luffy shook his head slowly, his white knuckle fists seemed to clench even tighter. Sabo sighed as he felt the tension in the air drop a little and took hold of the wererabbit's hands, trying to pry them loose before they dug in hard enough to draw blood.

Luffy let go of his ears with hesitation and stared at Sabo's hands before holding onto them.

"That was really dangerous, you know? You had us really worried for a second there," Sabo said, and he felt Luffy's hands tighten around his. "Because you are our little brother and don't have enough strength to protect yourself, we made rules to keep you safe. If you can't follow our rules, then we cant play with you anymore."

"No!" Luffy said just as his eyes snapped up to meet the werelion's ones. His ears stood up straight and his face was no longer scrunched up.

"Then, were you wrong?" Sabo asked. Luffy nodded a couple times. "So, are you going to say sorry?"

"Mm! I'm sorry, Sabo!" Luffy nodded once more and tightened his hands against the others, hoping his apology would be accepted.

"Apology accepted," Sabo smiled. "Do you think Ace deserves an apology, too?"

Luffy let go of Sabo and ran towards Ace, tackling the older boy while saying a chain of "sorry"s. Being smothered by someone, smaller or not, was not a comfortable feeling, so Ace held him away at arms length with a hand to the wererabbit's face.

"All right already!" Ace said. When Luffy stopped his ramblings, Ace removed his hand. He glared at the boy in front of him before he directed his glare to the side. "It was my bad, too, I shouldn't have yelled at you."

Luffy smiled widely and wrapped his arms around Ace again. Ace sputtered at being caught off guard and tried to shove Luffy away while Sabo laughed at their struggles. When the werepanther finally got away, the three boys were in better moods than they had been that morning.

Sabo's bananadile had gotten away since he didn't restrain it properly on the banks. So the three of them decided it was a draw and carried the bananadile Ace had caught together, with Ace and Sabo supporting the main body weight and Luffy the tail.

By the time they made it back home, the sun was already disappearing down the horizon. They dropped the bananadile right outside the door and rushed into the kitchen where the parents were.

"We're back!" They yelled. Sabo went directly to the sink to wash his hands and face while Luffy had spotted the picnic basket Roger and Rouge had used and went to look through it for snacks. Ace went to the fridge for a drink  and sat at the table.

"We managed to catch a bananadile!" Ace started after a big gulp.

"I didn't know crocodiles could have bananas on them," Sabo said to Rouge, who was stirring a pot besides him.

"It was so much fun!" Luffy laughed. "I almost got ea-"

"AH!" Ace and Sabo screamed.

"Ah, I-I … I wonder if they'll taste like bananas," Sabo stuttered. Rouge and Roger laughed at that while Ace was just glad they didn't ask questions. The raven sent a thumbs up towards the werelion when the adults weren't looking.

Dinner was a civil affair; Roger ate slowly, applying all the table manners he could remember into his motions while Ace was being corrected over and over again under Sabo's watchful eyes. Luffy, on the other hand, was a bit frustrated that he couldn't just shove everything into his mouth, let alone use his bare hands under the teachings of Rouge.


	10. Chapter 10

"I talked to Bellemere the other day and you won't believe how much the girls have grown!" Rouge said. She and her husband sat on the porch, watching over the boys that were playing around the water hose. It was specially hot today, so the family decided to have fun with water in the backyard.

"How long is she staying this time? We should make a visit before she leaves," Roger replied as he tried to braid his wife's hair. There was a tray besides them that had once upon a time have watermelon slices on it.

"Oh, she is not leaving anytime soon. She said she is staying for good, because of the girls," Rouge tried to stay still for her husband, but the excitement of the news was a bit overwhelming. 

"Hahaha! That's even better! We should give her a welcome basket," Roger grinned wide.

"Oh, definitely!" Rouge clapped her hands and started talking about the various kinds of baskets they could chose from, ignoring the competitive screams from the boys in front of them.

"49-48, you are falling behind, Ace!" Sabo grinned with his hands at his waist. They decided to continue their competition to see who was strongest through sparring.

"Shut up! You just got lucky," Ace grumbled. They had been going at it for hours now, tally marking each loss and win on the ground by the porch so they didn't accidentally erase it.

"Don't be such a sore loser, we all know I'm stronger," Sabo smirked, his tail waving tauntingly behind him.

"AGAIN!" Ace roared as he attacked Sabo first. The werelion predicted that the other's anger would get the best of him, and he grinned at the results.

The two boys started their 97th sparring session, not really paying attention to their surroundings, or their other brother who had wandered off.

Luffy had gotten bored with watching his older brothers spar and decided to go do some exploring of his own. He did insist on sparring, too, but with no hand-eye coordination whatsoever, being able to withstand hits got boring real quick.

He first started with the bushes that circled their house; they were normal bushes, but as Makino's picture books depicted, there could be shiny things between the leaves or treasure buried under the earth. After a few minutes of shuffling through leaves and digging through dirt, Luffy perked up at the sound of laughter coming from the forest. Not thinking twice about it, he tried following the sound.

He crawled between the bushes, walked by trees, jumped on boulders  and finally came to a stop by a river before he realized he had been walking around aimlessly. Before he could register the fact that he was lost, a sweet smell enticed him towards a bush that had wild berries growing on them.

He took a handful of berries and put them in his mouth, making him scrunch up his face at the sourness of the fruits. Figuring that maybe other bushes were different, he repeated the same process a couple of times; grab a handful, chew, scrunch face up, move on.

Right when he was about to grab his 6th handful, he heard a faint piping sound. He stopped his movements to try and focus on the sound, but before he could register anything, he felt sharp claws dig into him from behind. As he was lifted off the ground, one part of him was struggling to get free while another part of his mind was fighting to stay still.

Not more than a couple of minutes later, he was already exhausted from the physical and mental struggles. He relaxed and decided to survey his surroundings instead; it wasn't everyday that he could enjoy an aerial view, after all. He found the clearing of their home, and he saw Ace and Sabo still going at it, and Rouge and Roger were now sitting on the grass, watching the fight and cheering. Before he could call out to them, he was jostled.

He looked up with a frown from being interrupted and noticed that his captor was a bird. His frown morphed into a look of amazement when he realized how long the wings extended. Before he could comment on it, he was interrupted, once again, by a whistle. He looked to the side and noticed the other bird that was flying besides them was slightly smaller. Before he could greet it, he was jerked to the side followed by circular motions, making him dizzy and lose track of where was up and where was down.

 

* * *

 

 

When the boys reached a score of 49-49, Roger and Rouge could see that the boys' competitive streak was getting out of hand, so they decided to play referees. They kept a serious facade at the beginning, but as the fight went on, they couldn't help but cheer for whoever was doing bad or made a particularly good hit.

It was halfway through the match that Rouge remembered that she had a third son now. "Roger, have you seen Luffy?"

Roger stopped in the middle of his cheering and looked around. Rouge copied him, looking around her side. Not a second later, they turned back around and stared at each other, knowing what they had, or hadn't been able to find.

Just before they could start panicking, they could hear distinct whistling noises from above them. They looked up and saw two eagles flying in circles. Both werepanther and werelioness laughed and waved at them to come down, having recognized what, or rather who, they seemed to be fighting for.

The birds seemed to have noticed the waving hands and after circling around once more, they plunged downwards towards the couple. Just a couple of meters before they hit the ground, they flapped their wings for a momentary stop and shapeshifted in mid air.

Luffy, who was in one of the eagle's hold, was thrown upwards while the shift took place and was caught not a second later in the hands of a sixteen years old red headed boy.

"Roger-san! Rouge-san! Good afternoon!" The two were-eagles called out. The red haired boy held the wererabbit in his hands, arms stretched out to show the adults in front of them. The other boy, with blue hair and a red nose, was giving him a side glare.

"This is my catch of the day! I didn't even know Ruskaina had rabbits! I found it loitering around the riverbank. It was so surprising, I don't know if I'd want to keep it or eat it-"

Before the boy could finish, Luffy startled when he heard he was going to be eaten, so he flailed around, managing to punch his captor in the face.

"I'm not yummy! I don't want to be eaten!" The raven boy yelled as he ran towards his brothers, who had stopped sparring when the were-eagles landed.

"Are you ok there, Shanks?" Roger asked as his wife laughed along with him. The red haired boy sat up with a hand to his face and stared with wide eyes at the three kids to the side.

"What the hell?!" The blue haired boy yelled with a similar expression to his companion.

"Buggy," Rouge patted the boy's head. "We do not use such language."

"Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am," Buggy smacked his lips together at his slip-up before apologizing. After the mother lifted her hand from his head, he sighed in relief and went back to staring at the wererabbit that was hiding behind the werepanther and werelion kids.

"Would you boys like something to drink?" Rouge asked as she walked towards the house.

"Come on in, boys, I'll introduce you," Roger ruffled Shanks' and Buggy's hair and followed his wife. At the mention of refreshing drinks, Ace, Sabo and Luffy rushed after their parents  with cheers.

Buggy turned to his side and saw that Shanks was in the same state as him and was still holding his hand against his face. The punch was not hurtful by any means, but it was the shock value that kept Shanks holding his non-wounded face.

As the shock was starting to wear off, he grinned widely. "This is so awesome!"

Buggy raised an eyebrow at him, but then he shrugged it off; after six years of knowing each other, nothing about this guy could surprise him anymore.

 

* * *

 

 

Inside the house, the three brothers sat around the table, each drinking their own drinks while staring at the two newcomers sitting in front of them. Shanks stared back with a big smile while Buggy eyed them suspiciously.

"Shanks, Buggy, you have already met Ace, and these two are Luffy and Sabo," Roger pointed to each kid as he introduced them. Buggy intensified his scowl at the kids while Shanks waved. "Kids, these are Shanks and Buggy."

"Hi," Luffy waved a hand with wide inquisitive eyes.

"Nice to meet you," Sabo said out of habit. This was Luffy's first time  seeing bird type weres up close and it was Sabo's first time seeing were-eagles, or commonly known as harpies. He had heard about harpies before, but they were always described as females only, never males. According to the Registry of Races, harpies were female bird weres described as shrewish and unpleasant. Before the werelion could comment about that, Luffy spoke up first.

"Can you poop?"

Silence echoed through the house as everyone stared at the wererabbit with varying degrees of displeasure. Even Rouge had stopped in the middle of making a snack to look at the innocent face.

"Luffy, dear," Rouge started softly. "Everyone poops."

"Nuh-hu!" Luffy shook his head at her. "Grandpa said mosquidoes don't. And they are really bad and blegh."

Roger and Shanks started laughing loudly when the little boy stuck his tongue out while Buggy made a disgusted face. Rouge sighed as she massaged her temples.

"That's not how it works," Ace said as he struck the boy behind his head while Sabo laughed stiffly on the other side.

"Yes, I do, but I wouldn't know about him," Shanks said after he stopped laughing and pointed to his right where Buggy was.

"Hey, hey, don't say such disturbing things," Buggy slapped the pointing hand away.

"Is it because you look funny?" Luffy stood up on his chair and leaned over the table.

"Wha-" Buggy debated on how to process the comment before he decided on it being an insult. "Why, you little!"

Luffy leaned back when feathered arms tried to reach for him. When the were-eagle tried to reach for him again, he thought it was the start of a game of tag, so he hopped down from his seat and ran out of the kitchen followed by the blue haired boy.

"Ah! Don't you dare do anything to Luffy, you clown!" Ace yelled as he followed the duo. Sabo sighed as he heard loud stomping noises followed by laughs and screams.

"I'll make sure they don't break anything," Sabo said as he slid down from his seat and followed after the other three.

"That kid sure is interesting! Where did you find him?" Shanks asked the couple.

"Remember Ol'Garp? That is his grandson!" Roger replied.

"Sabo comes from Goa. They are staying with us for an indefinite amount of time, so they are family now," Rouge added on as she brought a plate of sandwiches to the table.

"Oh, that's awesome! It's like having three little cousins now," Shanks chuckled. "Everyone is going to go crazy when they find out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So researching about eagles, all the different types of eagles and the type of sounds they make took some time. So Shanks is sort of a crowned eagle while Buggy is a harpy eagle; they were not in the beginning, way different races, but that's settled. So eagles mostly only make piping noises, or whistling noises, or so I found.
> 
> Anyways, next chapter is going to be more of an epilogue of sorts! An ending to this work and a possible start to a series of short stories.


	11. Epilogue

"We are going!" Rouge called out from the doorway with a basket hanging from her arm.

"We'll be back in a few hours, don't you boys worry," Roger leaned down and kissed each boy's head noisily.

"Argh! Just go already!" Ace tried to get away, but the old man's arms held him in place. When he let go he tried to swipe at him, but he missed.

"Ok," Sabo laughed when it was his turn. He didn't mind the ridiculous ways Roger would show his love. It was a considerable upgrade from having a stoic father whom he had never even had physical contact with.

Luffy swayed from toe to heel while he waited for his turn and giggled when his face was cradled by calloused hands.

After the final kiss, the couple headed out. Luffy and Sabo waved after them while Ace had his arms crossed and glared off to the side.

"Come on, don't be so grumpy," Sabo bumped against the werepanther, following after the wererabbit that ran back into the living room.

"Don't call me grumpy!" Ace yelled and followed his brothers into the living room. Luffy was jumping on the sofa while Sabo lay down on the rug in front of it.

"What now?" Sabo asked as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Well, you heard mom and dad, no more sparring for at least two days," Ace flopped down besides the werelion. After a beat of silence, they both sighed at the same time.

Seeing his two older brothers on the ground being so quiet and comfortable, Luffy decided to join them. With one last jump he landed on the floor and fell onto the two boys. "Shishishi, lets play!"

"Luffy, get off," Ace grumbled shimmied to the side to get away from his brother's weight.

"And what game do you want to play?" Sabo asked after he had moved away from the wererabbit.

"Hmm," Luffy concentrated on the different games he knew, but couldn't come up with anything. "No idea."

"Don't just suggest anything if you don't have a plan," Ace flicked the wererabbit and received a scrunch up face with a tongue sticking out as a response.

"How about hide and seek?" Sabo suggested, ignoring the silly face competition the raven boys were in.

"Ooh! Yes yes yes! That!" Luffy broke away from his contorted face and sat up.

"But it's so boring, we can smell where the other one is and Luffy can't keep quiet," Ace said. He and Sabo decided to sit up to take the conversation seriously.

"Ok, what about outside then? It's not like we can get lost anyways, and we can sniff Luffy out if he does decide to wander too far."

"I won't get lost!"

"I guess, but isn't it going to be too big of a searching ground?"

"Then the limit is within hearing range then; if you can't hear the other's voice then you have gone too far," Sabo explained. He stared at Ace, already knowing he'd agree, but there was one more problem.

"NOT IT!" Luffy screamed as he threw his arms up, prompting his brothers to do the same not a second later.

The wererabbit laughed as his brothers glared at each other before starting a round of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to determine the looser.

"Noo!" Ace yelled as he held his spread out 'paper' hand.

"Let's go Luffy!" Sabo laughed as he went outside with the small raven boy hopping besides him.

 

* * *

 

 

Once the three were outside, Ace covered his eyes and started counting begrudgingly. Sabo and Luffy giggled at his expression before they ran away to hide.

Sabo knew that Ace could hear them and would be able to smell where they went, so he made to climb up a tree. He rushed through the leaves and jumped a short distance to another branch from a neighboring tree. From there he jumped down into a roll and stayed down to crawl his way under bushes. Once he found a bush that gave him view of the house and Ace he decided it was a good spot to stay.

Luffy, on the other hand, couldn't get up the trees yet, so he immediately jumped through a bush and kept jumping from bush to bush until he could faintly hear Ace's counting voice. He giggled at his ingenious idea, Ace would never be able to find him now.

With the sun warming the earth, and the bush providing cool shelter, Luffy was lulled to sleep with the soft rustling of leaves.

Dwelling on the line that separates consciousness from unconsciousness for a few minutes, the wererabbit was startled awake at the triumphant scream of Ace, most likely from having found Sabo. He was about to rush out into the clearing and cheer with his brothers before he felt the earth beneath his hands and knees tremble.

He looked confusedly at the earth; people shake when they are scared, why was the earth scared?

The earth trembled again, a little bit fainter than last time, but it shook nonetheless.

Curiosity taking over his mind, Luffy decided to walk deeper into the forest, crawling along patches of dirt that seemed to shake harder and harder, until he could hear thumping.

Looking up, he saw a big grey figure not far from him. The closer he got, he could see more of the creature's features. It was one of those elephant things from Makino's picture books. Never had he seen one in real life and it was bigger than he could ever imagine.

Hooked by his curiosity, Luffy crept closer, going close enough to circle around each stomping feet. Makino had told him that elephants were as tall as trees, but this one seemed to be tall enough to reach the sky.

When the elephant stopped by a tree, its nose, Makino called it a trunk, pulled a bunch of leaves and put them in his mouth.  Seeming as the elephant wouldn't be moving anytime soon, the wererabbit took the chance and ran his hand through the coarse skin of a front leg.

The elephant was surprised the touch on his leg and when he looked down, he could see a child. A raven boy with rabbit ears and a that was shaking. Focusing solely on the boy, his trunk loosened the hold on the bunch of leaves he had previously grabbed, making the leaves flutter down on to the child.

Luffy jerked at the feeling of leaves raining down around him and looked up. When he locked eyes with the elephant he smiled and waved with his whole arm.

"Hi."

His smile turned into a frown when he didn't get a response. Remembering the leaves that had fallen around him, Luffy crouched down and gathered as much as he could into his two hands. He raised them up, offering them to the elephant.

The elephant was still surprised to see a wererabbit by his feet, but he decided to humour the kid. He reached down to grab the leaves and like a switch, the kid's eyes widened  and they filled up with amazement.

Before Luffy could go for another handful, he could hear his name being yelled from a distance. The elephant seemed to have heard it, too, as they both turned towards the sound.

"Ah, the hide and seek game," Luffy suddenly remembered. "Ace and Sabo are going to be so mad." He turned back to the elephant and smiled. "I'd take you home with me, but I don't think you'll fit on the bed. I'll ask Rouge and Roger for a bigger bed, then I'll come back and get you!"

When another yell echoed through the forest, Luffy hurried towards the sound, but before he lost sight of the elephant he called back, "See you!"

 

* * *

 

 

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy yelled as he jumped onto his unsuspecting brothers.

"Luffy! You dumbass! Where have you been?" Ace yelled back when he recovered from the fall. He dug his knuckles into the wererabbit's head while his other arm was hooked around the boy's shoulders to hold him still.

"Why did you go so far into the forest? Didn't we go over the rules in the beginning?" Sabo yelled along while pulling at the boy's cheeks.

"Ahh ssu en ehrufft" Luffy smiled through the rough treatment.

"What?" Sabo and Ace asked, stopping their movements to look at their youngest brother.

"Aah ffuund an ehrehffft," he repeated.

"Huh?" Sabo and Ace let the wererabbit go from their grasps with confusion.

"I found an elephant!" Luffy exclaimed. "It was huge! And old! And it eat leaves!"

The wererabbit kept on rambling while his older brothers looked at each other, trying to see if either of them could understand what the boy was trying to get at. It turns out neither of them did, so Ace sighed.

"Ok, whatever. We better get back before mom and dad get home," Ace turned around and started walking back.

"Yeah, it's already bad enough that we got so far from home," Sabo said as he followed.

"And it was so cool! I was going to take it home, but it's too big, and it wouldn't fit on the bed," Luffy followed after them, still in the middle of his story.

 

* * *

 

 

The elephant stared after the wererabbit that had just left his sight. He was an interesting boy; he was hoping to bring the boy home with him if he didn't have anywhere else to go. It would've been a great addition to his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! As a goodbye gift, I'll leave this just as it is for now, anyone want to try and figure out who is the elephant?
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for keeping up with me until now!!


End file.
